1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices constructed for charging rechargeable electronic devices or appliances and the like which are structured for insertion in a cigarette lighter of a vehicle, and specifically relates to an AC-powered recharging device configured to securely engage a rechargeable electronic appliance or device.
2. Description of Related Art
Many electronic appliances or devices typically used in homes or offices have been adapted for use in vehicles, boats and other forms of transportation by adapting such appliances to be powered from the cigarette lighter of a vehicle or boat. Such electronic appliances include telephones, compact disc players, televisions, vacuums and computers. These appliances have been adapted for use in vehicles and the like by replacing the typical electrical prongs insertable in an AC outlet with a shaft portion (DC plug) sized to be received in the cigarette lighter. The electronic appliance is then powered by the battery or engine of the car. Some devices which have been adapted for use in a vehicle may not only be powered by the battery of the vehicle, but may be rechargeable by the battery to provide wireless use. Such devices typically include mobile telephones, flashlights and shavers.
It is sometimes desirable or necessary to use in the home or office electronic devices which have been adapted for use or recharging in a vehicle. It may also be necessary or desirable to recharge such electronic appliances in a home or office for use there. However, once configured with an adaptor for insertion in a cigarette lighter, such appliances are virtually unusable anywhere outside of or away from the vehicle. Thus, voltage adaptors and/or recharging devices have been developed for providing power to cigarette lighter-adapted devices using an AC power outlet. Examples of such devices are generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,691 to Palatov and U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,472 to Lee.
The devices disclosed in the referenced patents are notable in having a docking aperture in the recharging unit the axis of which is oriented parallel to, or coaxially with, the dual male openings of the wall socket into which the prongs of the recharging unit are plugged. As a result, any electronic appliance plugged into known recharging devices can slip out, be pulled out or be knocked out of the recharging device if, for example, a human or animal brushes past the recharging device. Moreover, the inherent weight and/or center of gravity of the rechargeable device, such as a heavier weight flashlight or shaver, will cause the recharging adapter unit to fall out of the wall socket due to gravitational pull of the appliance on the adapter unit. Known recharging units then become either ineffective or useless.
Thus, it would be advantageous in the art to provide a charging/recharging device which is configured to receive a cigarette lighter-adapted electronic appliance into a charging port which is oriented in a manner which will lessen or prevent the charging/recharging device from being dislodged from a wall socket or other power source and which is structured to prevent dislodgment of the electronic appliance from the charging/recharging device.
In accordance with the present invention, an AC-powered recharging device is structured to receive a cigarette lighter-adapted electronic appliance and to maintain such appliance in an orientation which prevents dislodgement of the appliance from the recharging device and which prevents dislodgement of the recharging device from an AC wall socket or power source. The invention disclosed herein is adaptable for use in charging, or supplying electricity to, an appliance which is otherwise usable only in the cigarette lighter of a vehicle or boat or an appliance which itself has an charging adapter fitted with a DC plug for recharging the appliance via the cigarette lighter of a vehicle. The present invention is also adaptable for use in recharging an appliance which is structured with rechargeable battery means. However, for the sake of simplicity, the invention is described herein as being a recharging device for use with rechargeable appliances.
The recharging device of the present invention generally comprises a housing structured with a charging port which is sized to receive the cylindrical post, or DC plug, of an electronic appliance, or its charger, which is adapted for insertion into the cigarette lighter of a vehicle. The housing is also structured to enclose the electrical circuitry of the recharging device, which provides power derived from an AC power source to the cigarette lighter-adapted appliance or its charger.
The housing of the present invention is structured to provide a charging port, the longitudinal axis of which is oriented away from a defined axis extending through the prong-receiving openings of an AC power source or wall socket. Understandably, the same defined axis is associated with the prongs of the recharging device of the present invention which are adapted for insertion in a wall socket or other AC power source. Hence, the longitudinal axis of the charging port is likewise oriented away from the longitudinal axis of the prongs of the recharging device when in position for insertion in an outlet or power source.
The longitudinal axis of the charging port may preferably be oriented radially to the defined axis of the AC power source and prongs. In a particularly suitable embodiment of the invention, the charging port is radially oriented to the defined axis of the prongs and is oriented in a substantially vertical orientation. However, the charging port may be other than vertically-oriented (i.e., oriented at an angle to the defined axis of the prongs). The orientation of the charging port as described positions the weight and/or center of gravity of the rechargeable appliance in a manner which prevents the recharging device of the present invention from being pulled away from the wall socket or other power source due to gravitational pull, and also prevents the rechargeable appliance from becoming dislodged from the housing.